Robin Sparkles
Robin Sparkles is teen-aged Robin Scherbatsky's alter ego which she used during her time as a Canadian pop star. The real world inspiration for the character is Canadian singer Alanis Morissette, who recorded two albums of pop music before turning toward more serious songs in the 1990s. Show Outline The existence of Robin's alter ego, Robin Sparkles, was first revealed in Season two's , when Robin refused to go to an event at a mall and also refused to reveal why. Due to Robin showing shame at the mention of why she disliked malls, Barney thought that Robin had been involved in porn. Marshall suggests that she hates malls because she had once gotten married at a mall in Canada, when confronted about this she went along with the story of having been married rather then reveal the truth, going so far as seamlessly inventing details of the band and the catering. Still thinking Robin is involved in porn, Barney starts searching through Canadian porn which is successful when a person in Malaysia sends Barney the video he was looking for. He shows the video to the gang, which opens like porno but turned out to be the music video to her first song "Let's Go To The Mall". Robin explains that she was a teenage pop star in Canada, and that for a year she had to visit malls across the country singing it. on Space Teens.]] The others learn in Season three's that Robin released another song, "Sandcastles in the Sand", as Robin Sparkles, but this song was not as successful as the first. The music video features Robin's ex-boyfriend Simon, Alan Thicke and . The gang also finds out in Season six's that Robin had appeared on Canadian children's show Space Teens as her alter ego with her best friend back then, Jessica Glitter. The two teenagers used math to solve galactic problems, thanks to Alan Thicke. Robin and Jessica sang The Beaver Song, a song about friendship, on the show. In Season eight's , the others learn that Robin had obsessed over an unknown man when she was younger. Barney goes to Canada and tracks down the guys she has dated. After encountering Simon once again, he tells Barney of the Robin Sparkle episode of Underneath The Tunes. Barney obtains the tape and the gang watch it. They discover Robin hit her breaking point in February 1996, becoming Robin Daggers. In her obsession, she released a new track called "P.S. I Love You". The man she was obsessed with was Paul Shaffer, although Barney thought P.S. meant post signed. Robin Daggers In 1996, Robin became obsessed with Paul Shaffer. She filled up her journals about him, and eventually got a restraining order. This also reflected on Robin Sparkles. In an interview with (as Robin Sparkles), she stormed out midway through the interview, saying, "I can't do this." Later, in the halftime show of the , Robin revealed to the spectators that Robin Sparkles is dead and that her new name is Robin Daggers. She took off her Robin Sparkles wig and jacket, revealing her new "Robin Daggers look", and started singing her song P.S. I Love You, which Dominant Records had refused to release, due to its dark nature. Mentions *Let's Go To The Mall was Ted's ringtone in . *In , Marshall sings Let's Go To The Mall during karaoke, at the Hoser Hut. *Robin walks down the aisle to an instrumental version of Sandcastles in the Sand. * Robin sings Let's Go To The Mall at her wedding in a deleted scene: http://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/How-I-Met-Your-Mother-Robin-Sparkles-Deleted-Scene-35741481 * Robin Scherbatsky's music career seems to be based on Alanis Morissette. Both were Canadian (forgotten) teenage pop-stars, heavily contrasting with their later fame in U.S. with much more adult-oriented audience. The fictional song 'PS I Love You' bears strong resemblance to Morissette's hit, 'You Oughta Know'. Also, there's some speculation about who was the inspiration behind Morissette's song, somewhat similar to the backstory of Robin's song. Notes and Trivia *On 20 December 2017, Cobie Smulders (who plays Robin) has posted on her Instagram account that she made some Robin Sparkles-themed Tim Hortons doughnuts. Tim Hortons is a Canadian coffee and doughnut store that actually also operates some branches in the US, including in New York. External links *Robin Sparkles at MySpace *Robin Sparkles at YouTube / VEVO de:Robin Sparkles Category:Recurring Elements Category:Robin Sparkles Category:Characters Category:Canadian Characters and Elements